Closure leaves a void

THE HERALD TIMES VIEW: G-P

A mere four months ago, Gaylord employees at Georgia-Pacific's particle board plant were encouraged by the company's purchase and transfer to the private sector by Koch Industries of Wichita, Kan.

Monday, they were given notice the plant was closed. Business life in the United States is a fickle thing, all the more so in Michigan where the economy continues to lag, made worse for manufacturing here in the north because of our distance from … well everything.

Company spokesmen said Monday the closure was the result of high energy costs as well as the cost of raw material. They had tried for more than a year without success, they said, to find a viable solution.

And why produce anything when there is a reported glut in the market?

None of that is any consolation to the 210 people who found themselves out of work. None of that is any consolation to the countless people who depended on that money trickling through the community to restaurants, retail stores and businesses which contracted with Georgia-Pacific.

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Yes, Otsego County will - because we do - rally around those who need help in the short term.

But look further out than that. Resources are here for retraining workers in new areas. There are new opportunities for business growth in a modernized industrial park open just down the road from the shuttered plant.

When one door closes, another opens. We just have to get from one to the other.